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Switchfoot

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San Diego rock band who spent the late nineties as a Christian-market act before crossing over to mainstream radio — 'Dare You to Move' still carries the room.

Switchfoot formed in 1996 under the name Chin Up before settling on Switchfoot and signing with producer Charlie Peacock's label Re:think Records, later absorbed by the Christian label Sparrow. That distribution deal shaped their early years, with The Legend of Chin, New Way to Be Human and Learning to Breathe marketed mainly to Christian radio and retail.

The name itself comes from surfing: Jon Foreman has explained that "switching your feet" means turning to face the opposite direction, a phrase the band took as shorthand for changing stance in life and music, reflecting the members' long ties to San Diego's surf community.

Exposure from A Walk to Remember pushed the band toward Columbia Records for The Beautiful Letdown, which produced "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move" and moved Switchfoot decisively into mainstream rock radio. The follow-up run continued through the 2000s, with 2005's Nothing Is Sound reaching number three on the Billboard 200.

2009's Hello Hurricane won a Grammy for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album, and the band has gone on to release thirteen studio albums in total, its most recent being Forever Now. Jerome Fontamillas has played guitar and keyboards since 2001, and Drew Shirley held the second guitar chair from 2005 to 2022.

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